Mental health needs

Mental health needs can be complex, enduring and deep-rooted.

Because of this, our approach focuses on early intervention to help prevent more serious problems from occurring.

How we support people with mental health needs

We work in partnership with you, your care team and other agencies to deliver truly individualised support that will meet your needs.

We aim to increase your confidence and promote your independence, whilst empowering you to make decisions and choices about your life. We will also work with you to build trusting relationships and overcome social isolation.

Our emphasis, where possible, is on early intervention and instilling hope in people for their future.

How we provide supported housing

United Response offers support for people who are gradually moving into more independent accommodation.

The service - Our supported housing services aim to provide accommodation to adults aged 18 and over who are receiving treatment or care for a mental health need.

The aims of the service - We support individuals to maintain stable tenancies, in collaboration with other agencies such as local community mental health teams.

The support team - The support team works with each person to develop their skills and confidence. They can provide practical support on things like the benefits system, use of household equipment, and finding appropriate community services and social networks.

Moving on - Many people move on from supported housing to independent accommodation. We can help with this. Typically, we approach the process in phases, with an individual moving first to a shared house with medium levels of support, then to a single flat with some support, before finally progressing to independent living.

How we support long-term or complex mental health needs

United Response can provide residential services for people with long-term or complex mental health needs. We have a range of residential services across the country; just ordinary houses in the community. Our emphasis is on independence for the individual, but also on a sense of community within the house.

People can, for example, personalise their rooms and decide how they take meals. However, they are also expected to perform chores and attend regular house meetings. This gives people the chance to get involved and take on responsibilities.

Our residential services are staffed on a 24-hour rota, with one support worker sleeping in at night.

How we provide outreach support

We can provide an outreach service to people moving out of psychiatric care, where they are referred to us by a healthcare professional. And we work in close collaboration with local community mental health teams.

We can support people before admission to, or discharge from, hospital. We work closely with each individual, their key worker, psychiatric nurse or social worker to develop a care management plan to best suit their needs.

Other support services we can offer

Practical help - including finding accommodation, support with personal money management, help with welfare benefits entitlements and support with recreational and leisure activities.

Social and emotional help – including support to establish and sustain social networks, and help communicating with others (for example in a shared house).

Mental and physical health – our support workers are not responsible for administering psychiatric medicines, but they can report to the care co-ordinator if someone is not complying with their treatment. We can also report side effects or changes in an individual to mental health professionals, when necessary.

Related

The Foundations of Good Support is a step by step guide to assessing the quality of support being provided for people with learning disabilities and/or autism, and identifying what might need changing in order to improve it.

Easy News is the first news magazine designed to be accessible for people with learning disabilities, aimed to encourage discussion around news stories and keep readers informed about the world around them. Read the latest issue here.

Become a support worker for United Response and help disabled people in their communities at home. You’ll help them cook, clean, pay bills, apply for jobs, make friends and a thousand things in between.

We work with young people and adults with a wide range of learning disabilities across England and Wales. To plan the right kind of support, we work closely with each individual and the people who are important to them. In this way, they get the support they want, in the way they want.

ROC (Robert Owen Communities) has Wellbeing services in Devon and Cornwall, which we can support you to attend. ROC’s Wellbeing services offers you the opportunity to learn new and exciting skills and gain accredited learning qualifications at the same time.